Category: Amici Terrazzo

Terrazzo: Bringing an iconic office building up to date

AON Center Chicago, Chicago, IL

A hospitality-focused lobby brings comfort, warmth, and openness to the AON Center, a mid-century modern Chicago architectural icon.

The redesign of the commercial office lobby pays homage to the original International Style architecture. As a space with multiple lobbies and pathways, the flooring works with other design details to maintain cohesion in light and space.

“The design of the terrazzo is not flashy or over the top. It is intended to be beautiful and timeless, to honor the iconic nature of the building,” says Shawn Fawell, AIA, who managed the project for the Chicago office of Gensler, a global architecture and design firm.

The contractor worked creatively to render interesting patterns in the terrazzo and to cut the terrazzo build time in half, by keeping the existing floor grid, rather tearing up the original floor and starting from scratch.

Terrazzo Provides Renewal

Presence Resurrection Hospital Chapel, Chicago, IL

After a devastating fire in the Chapel at Presence Resurrection Hospital in December 2014, a full restoration was required. The chapel had provided over 60 years of solace and support. Its destruction was a loss for the whole community. But out of the fire came an opportunity for renewal. It was a chance to create a new environment to provide a comfort to visitors and meet their spiritual needs.

The terrazzo design was crafted to bring unity to the space. The design has elements used throughout the chapel. The stars inlayed around the font match the over 800 stars in the astral pattern on the ceiling. The color palette complements the statuary, furnishings, and original marble used in the reredos and throughout. The straight lines mirror the leadlines of the stained glass. Even the brass divider strips carry elements that augment the gold leafing and lend continuity to the design. This timeless design creates a sanctuary that will bolster the community for years to come.

Best of NCTA 2018

Breadth, Beauty, Versatility

Each year, the North Central Terrazzo Association gathers to discuss advances in technology, to refine industry techniques, and to build camaraderie across our association. We seek to make time-tested terrazzo techniques even better.

We also look back at the projects completed by our association members that show the breadth, beauty, and versatility of terrazzo flooring. Many of these projects are award-winning designs and installations, and they include hospitals, colleges, research centers, sports arenas, transportation hubs, and churches.

Join us as we celebrate some of the finest projects the contractors of the North Central Terrazzo Association have created.

Flowing Design, Welcoming Space

Rush Copley Hospital, Aurora, IL

When it was time for a significant expansion of the Rush Copley Hospital, they turned to terrazzo for a significant and distinct first impression. When you step through the main entrance, you immediately encounter the welcoming flooring design. The flowing lines and curves are in perfect harmony with the natural elements in the lobby. The terrazzo flows up the grand staircase providing continuity in the space. The color palette is classic and professional. The warm tones, along with the clean lines in the design, create an inviting and comfortable environment.

When St. Ignatius College Prep sought to replace brick and the carpeted flooring, it looked to the versatility of terrazzo. The private college prep school near Chicago’s West Side called in Chicago-based Amici Terrazzo to design and build a seven-color terrazzo floor that would preserve the school’s historical qualities while serving its needs as an event space. The finished product was upgraded from the building’s worn-down brick and carpet flooring.

For Amici co-founder Carmine Tucci, the color selection, the use of the different stones and the ability able to incorporate the school colors to make it blend in a sophisticated way were the highlights of this project. Given that the school also functions as an event space and has an award-winning garden, the design of the flooring helps to make it all flow together well, he said.

Though more modern terrazzo materials were used, it was important that the finished design looked original, but it was a bit tricky to blend blue, brown, maroon and gold hues to match the ceiling and other existing aesthetics, Tucci said. It would have been easier to put in a border or come up with a simple pattern, but the chosen pattern really represented the age of the school.

“I really enjoyed the color selection and using the different types of stone and being able to use their school colors and make it blend without it looking like a grade school or a children’s place. It’s more sophisticated than a typical school pattern,” Tucci said.

Despite the time constraints, Tucci said the project went well, and he enjoyed having more freedom to come up with design ideas. His design ideas were well received, as the project won an NTMA 2016 Honor Award.

“I brought them a bunch of sketches and pictures and worked with their in-house project supervisor to come up with a nice pattern,” Tucci said. “I’ve usually been able to have influence on design and color selections, but not this much. It felt good that they trusted me.”

Rooted in tradition and tales of brotherhood and mystery, the Scottish Rite Cathedral Association Valley of Chicago needed to lay the cornerstones for a new home. After 100 years at its downtown Chicago location, the building could no longer meet the needs of the Scottish Rite, a division of the Freemasons.

A move to the suburbs would give the fraternal organization the room it needed for its current members and the possibility to grow. And so a 16 acre site in Bloomingdale was chosen and construction began soon after.

But, before the move, the organization stripped woodwork and artifacts out of its downtown location as a way to bring the history and traditions of the brotherhood with it.

Marc Adelman, principal with tvsdesign, said the firm worked to integrate as much of the woodwork and artifacts into the design as possible – all to tell the story of the Freemasonry’s symbolic origins. Featuring traditional masonry materials such as stone and brick and reused materials like 100-year-old millwork and doors, the new building executes timeless, yet contemporary, design.

As a Masonic Lodge, the new building features executive suites, a lodge hall, museum, library, kitchen, bar, and game room. Because the members of the Scottish Rite receive new degrees by watching or participating in theater productions centered around teaching lessons, the new Valley of Chicago Scottish Rite Cathedral also includes a theater complete with backstage elements. Intricate costumes and scenery that date back to the early 1900s call for storage rooms with special HVAC systems.

One of the most important rooms in the lodge is that of the Grand Hall. Because the Scottish Rite holds events and reunions where nearly 300 people attend, the building needed a way for all those in attendance to move quickly and easily from the banquet hall to the theater.

The Grand Hall does so while reflecting tradition and symbology, specifically the tradition of strict geographic orientation.

“As we were working through the design, we were looking for a material that would allow us to create some of that orientation and the compass point,” Adelman said. “Terrazzo became the material that met all of those requirements.”

The rhythm created by the terrazzo unites the symbolism throughout the building. The red, gold, tan, and black colors of a double-eagle mosaic located behind the reception desk are reflected in the compass pattern.

“All of those colors actually tie in with some of the symbols to create a timeless, traditional palate,” Adelman said. “The Scottish Rite wanted to respect the traditions of the past and yet look forward to the future.”

According to Adelman, no other material could combine tradition; symbolism; modernism; and craftsmanship, the premise behind the Masons, like terrazzo.

“These guys are craftsmen,” he said. “The terrazzo ties the whole story together from all sides.”